Recapping is a common procedure for periods between drawing up fluids into a syringe and administering injections through a needle. The recapping procedure can occasionally cause needlesticks since users sometime misalign the needles with the openings on the caps. Injuries can also occur after an injection and prior to the discarding of the needles. Needlesticks can be painful, but can also cause great inconvenience because all needlesticks must be reported. Also, since needles related to needlesticks must be discarded, medications contained within the syringes are unnecessarily wasted. Furthermore, fluids linked to these “clean” type of needlesticks can cause injuries and adverse reactions.
Additionally, needles may be damaged by over-rotation of caps during recapping. A damaged needle may be shifted from its normal orientation, causing the tip to stick out from under the cap. This leads to the same dangers of needlesticks outlined above.